The new Adventure has Started!!!

Monday, August 23, 2010

Hmmm! It does say 19 days doesn't it?

Yep, it is for real, 356 - 19 days ago I signed up for an IRONMAN to fulfil a dream and it is now around the corner!
The past year has been one incredible journey! Watching the countdown has been a blast. Seeing it go from 300 to 299, that was a nothing kind of day. Gave it some thought, went for a run. Went for a swim still learning how to get through the water properly. Finishing each lengths still gasping for air. Waking up each day and thinking about the race with a smile on my face and an anxious anticipation.
Then from 200 to 199. Still a little anticlimactic, not feeling any pressure at that point. I looked at the calendar and counted the days until my 'official' training started but nothing more. Heck, I was in the middle of ski season and that is my priority that time of year! I kept swimming and running and started my bike trainer up to get my butt into shape. Still seeming like it was a long time off.
100 to 99!? Still no real anxiousness, it was still a ways off! However, now I was training by my program and being quite religious about the structure and time. I was going through the motions and getting stronger as I pushed ahead.
Somewhere between that time and now, the time has gone into a free fall. It is blasting by faster than I can keep track of it. I am now 6-7 days from going into full taper. One more big rider, one more long run and then it is time to cruise to the start. It is now a reality that I will be standing on the start line of IRONMAN. Pardon the language, but HOLY CRAP!
People ask me if I am ready? As far as I am concerned, an IRONMAN is ready on the day they give the money to register. After that there is a lot of swim, bike and running, but it is all a matter of being comfortable on race day! Making the decision to go there is getting ready! Mentally I feel like I am there, ready to get on the line and have one of the most incredible experience of my life. Physically am I ready? ONe never knows? I have done the training and put in the miles and that is what one is supposed to do. I know I am going to go to the start line. All the training I have done tells me it should be a good day. I am looking forward to the experience!
The best thing about going to IM is the past year. Friends ask me about it and I can not tell them how cool the process has been. I have lost 45 lbs from a year ago. I have learnt how to swim, become a tri coach, started a run clinic and training company. Met all sorts of crazy internet friends that share this same crazy obsession. Became a Yoga instructor, started riding and running faster than before. Inspired others to tri something new and challenging. Most of all I have proven to myself what I have always preached! Anything is possible if you believe in it. If you have a dream you can accomplish it! It takes hard work and ups and downs, but you can do anything you want! This experience will serve me and those around me the rest my life. It has been the coolest and most amazing thing I have ever done!
If you are not a triathlete and are reading this, I hope you are inspired into tri-ing something new. It may not be athletic, but still get out there and get it done! Anything is possible!

9 comments:

skierz, great post and great accomplishments. Toeing the line at your first IM is an amazing experience. Take it all in and really enjoy. Best advice I was given before my first just a few weeks ago at IM Lake Placid - enjoy it, really enjoy it because you will never have another chance to do your first Ironman.

I still have a year and 10 months before I am toeing the line at an IM (CDA 2012), I love reading your blog! This one in particular kind of gave me a piece of mind. I can’t wait to read your race report! (and don’t forget LOTS of pics!!!!)

Great post! It's crazy how fast it creeps up on you, huh? I only have 6 days, eek! Since I signed up and people asked when it was, I always replied, "oh, it's in August" because that seemed so far away. Then one day my response suddenly turned into "it's in Aug-, oh crap, it's at the end of this month!"

I get that "Are you ready for an ironman?" question a lot these days. I think the second most common question I've been getting is (from non-tri people), after explaining what distances are involved, "what on earth would possess you to want to do that?!"

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